Got the Goodes, and the confidence to be better

The support of two coaches has given Adam Goodes the confidence to excel, reports Nabila Ahmed.

It was five weeks into the 2002 season when Adam Goodes reached his nadir.

Sydney had just eked out a forgettable draw with St Kilda after managing a solitary goal in the first half and Goodes, with just two marks and five possessions in the forward line, almost wanted to be dropped.

"I was just playing terrible football," he said. "I wasn't enjoying my football, I didn't like going to training. I was getting up in morning and just feeling like, 'Oh God, I've got to go to training again!' "

Just over a year on and Goodes' resurgence has been an integral part of Sydney's stunning emergence, with the 23-year-old turning many heads with his consistently brilliant performances.

Along with improved fitness and training, the difference, according to the man who burst on to the AFL scene, winning the Rising Star award in his first year, is confidence.");document.write("

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"I think when you get confidence from the coach . . . it just gives you so much more confidence before you even go out there and touch the football, you know?" he said.

Not that he believes former coach Rodney Eade had a negative impact on his football - far from it - but Goodes is just more comfortable with the style of new coach Paul Roos.

"It's just the change in coach with Roosy gave me more confidence . . . it was like starting from scratch again when Roosy started coaching."

Eade yesterday claimed the problem he had with Goodes was a technical one. "I think it was probably the position I played him in," Eade said. "I think being able to run around as a free spirit, which he is doing now, (is better).

"I had confidence in him, but maybe at times I was fairly hard on him. But, to his credit, he was able to respond very well to that. I was very impressed with his ability to want to learn."

Which is why Eade resisted his match committee's urgings to drop Goodes after that St Kilda game, allowing him to work himself back into form by giving him a defensive role on Melbourne's David Schwarz.

"At the time, there was a push to drop him and I said, 'No, the kid can play and it's our job to try to get him to play better'," he said.

In fact, Eade said that while he was hard on Goodes, it was only because he felt there was a fair gap between the athletic Swan's potential and ability.

"It's interesting. I remember when I was playing that coaches were hard on players who the coaches thought could play and the players took it that way, whereas today the players go, 'The coach is picking on me'.

"I was certainly hard on him but I didn't ride him as such. I spoke about some areas that he needed to improve on and I was honest and up front with him."

Goodes, the Swans' highest mark taker and second on their disposals tally, is the first to admit Eade's contribution in developing basic skills such as hard running and tackling.

"Whereas I'd like to just kick the goals and take the high marks, he taught me and drilled me to tackle, to chase, to put pressure on first and foremost," he said. "Learning through Rocket's style, you know, it was hard but I still didn't miss a game and I'm grateful for that.

"This year has been my best and the team, too, is going great. It comes from the player group, the players have to want it and the way we've been training since Roosy took over, everyone just wants to make this football club a success."